Over on St John, Uncle Joe’s is a legendary spot in Cruz Bay for its Caribbean barbecue, with fall-off-the-bone ribs or juicy chicken served alongside generous scoops of coleslaw or macaroni salad. Skip the tourist restaurants and try traditional West Indian cuisineįorgo the ever-present pizza and burger spots and sample Caribbean staples such as conch fritters, jerk chicken or callaloo soup at low-key West Indian restaurants like Gladys’ Café in Charlotte Amalie, where chef Gladys is as famous for her cooking as her singing. Other galleries worth a stop include Coconut Coast Studios and St John VI Pottery (in Coral Bay) and Mango Tango across the bay on St Thomas. Check the website for frequent events, such as book signings or documentary screenings, focused on Caribbean themes. Start at Bajo el Sol in Mongoose Junction, which is a hybrid bookstore, rum bar and art gallery featuring local painters and potters. St John has always had an artier appeal than its neighboring islands, which is best experienced on a gallery hop through Cruz Bay. Best of all, there are no boats required – you can start your dive from the shore. As you descend, expect to find a rainbow of corals and sponges, as well as eels, nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, seahorses and schools of tropical fish. The Cane Bay Wall plunges off the north shore of St Croix from 12m to over 4023m (40ft to over 13,200ft), with both sheer vertical drops and slow sloping areas that make for some of the most fantastic scuba diving in the Caribbean. The crystal clear waters around St Croix are perfect for snorkeling and diving © Glowimages / Getty Images Dive the world-famous Cane Bay Wall After exploring the ruins, hike the Leinster Bay Trail over to Waterlemon Cay and cool off in the crystal-clear waters. Now part of the national park, it includes information panels that describe the complex history of the island, from the violent displacement of Indigenous people to European settlement and the trafficking of enslaved African people during the sugar boom of the 18 th and 19 th centuries. The Annaberg Plantation in St John’s Leinster Bay holds the most intact sugar plantation ruins in the Virgin Islands, which once held over 600 enslaved people captive. Both now hold museums that tell the history of the enslaved Africans who built them and the European armies they housed. The legacy of this colonization is today most prevalent in the Danish fortifications that remain, including the red-brick Fort Christian in the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, which dates to 1672, and the dandelion-yellow Fort Christiansværn in the harbor of Christiansted, which dates to 1738. The Virgin Islands traded hands so often during the colonial era that the Spanish, French, English, Dutch and Danish all planted flags before the US purchased them from the latter in 1917 for $25 million in gold. Explore historic forts in Christiansted and Charlotte Amalie Timing your trip around one of these festivals will give you the best appreciation of the local West Indian culture as the streets burst to life with calypso music, jumbie dancing (skilled stilt dancers said to ward off evil spirits), and extravagant parades. Each island celebrates at a different time of year, with St Thomas kicking things off in April with the territory’s biggest fete, followed by St John in June and St Croix in December. The shimmering sounds of steel pans, the competing clatter of food trucks and the technicolor feathers of masquerade outfits are all telltale signs that the month-long Carnival season has arrived in the USVI. Each island has its own Carnival throughout the year and its worth planning your trip around at least one © EAGiven / Getty Images Plan your trip around Carnival
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